US launches military communications satellite

Washington, Aug 8 (IANS) The US launched a new military satellite into the orbit, the latest of a communications network shared by Washington and its western allies, the US military said.

Carried by a Delta 4 rocket, the sixth Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) spacecraft blasted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Wednesday at 8.29 p.m. It rose into the sky and accelerated away high above the Atlantic Ocean, reported Xinhua.

Built by Boeing and paid for by Australia, the 5,987 kg WGS-6 satellite will join a military communications network shared by the US, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and New Zealand.